Longtime supervisor retires after 33 years in office

Markleeville writer January Riddle was sworn in on Monday as the first new Alpine County District 1 Supervisor in a third of a century.

Riddle, 76, takes the seat held by Don Jardine for 33 years after he retired on July 2.

Jardine was the longest serving county supervisor in California.

During his six decades living in Alpine County he served as a reserve deputy sheriff, emergency medical technician, volunteer firefighter and member of the county’s search and rescue team.

“Supervisor Jardine epitomized the true Alpiner, even before he came into elected office. He once came to help, while wearing his trophy belt buckle, drive a backhoe that was stuck out of a mud hole, starting it with a quarter.”

Though born in Canada, Jardine served in the U.S. Marine Corps during Vietnam. He came to Alpine County with his hard-rock miner father.

Riddle served as a 2020 U.S. Census Response Representative for the Census.

She was a Humanities Faculty Member at the University of Phoenix from 2009 to 2018 and a Realtor for Devin Properties from 2005 to 2017. Riddle was an Educational Resource Specialist for the U.S. Peace Corps from 2002 to 2004, an Associate Professor of Communications at Bethany College from 1995 to 2001 and a Lecturer in Journalism at San Diego State University from 1982 to 1995. She earned a Doctor of Education degree in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University and a Master of Arts degree in English from San Jose State University.